Blumenthal Blasts Integration Ban Provision of STELA Reauthorization Bill

“I joined Sen. Markey in placing a hold on this bill because it includes language secured by the cable industry that would allow cable companies to drive up prices on their subscribers,” Blumenthal told us in a statement. “This anti-competitive measure would make it harder for consumers to vote with their feet and buy cable boxes of their choice. As cable rates continue to soar and the marketplace consolidates, we should be doing everything we can to give consumers more choices and ways to lower their bill.”

Blumenthal and Markey are on the Commerce Committee, where the Senate provision originated. Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., wrote the STELA reauthorization bill together and both backed the provision. At a September markup session, Markey proposed and withdrew an amendment that would have modified the integration ban provision, and then put a hold on the Senate floor hotline attempt to pass the reauthorization by unanimous consent the next day (see 1409230043). Blumenthal, also a member of the Judiciary Committee, had assented to the Commerce version of the legislation without raising any objections at the time.

Thune “remains hopeful that the minor differences between the House-passed and reported bills from the Commerce and Judiciary Committees will be resolved by early December -- either as a stand-alone bill or included in a must-pass measure,” emailed a senior committee aide. “Although some opponents to the Commerce-reported set top box provision have voiced concerns, no viable alternative was offered when the Committee favorably reported the bill in September. It would be a disservice to the more than 1.5 million Americans who benefit from the existing distant signal provision if someone attempted to block an otherwise strongly bipartisan bill.”

Spokespeople for Rockefeller did not comment. Thune is seen as the driver behind including the set-top box integration ban repeal, a provision strongly sought by NCTA.

“Elimination of the integration ban is a simple, pro-consumer measure approved with strong bipartisan support by the full House and Senate Commerce Committee,” NCTA’s spokesman said in considering Blumenthal’s objections. “Approval of this provision will save energy and reduce costs for millions of consumers who are forced by a government mandate to lease a set-top box with technology that provides them no benefit. The integration ban has nothing to do with a competitive retail market and does nothing to disturb cable’s obligation to support separable security in retail devices.”

Public Knowledge has been in talks with Blumenthal’s office for a while on this front, independent of TiVo and other stakeholders, PK Government Affairs Associate Martyn Griffen told us. Public Knowledge is “encouraged” at Blumenthal’s public voicing of his concerns, Griffen said.

Electronic video hardware manufacturer Hauppauge Computer Works, Public Knowledge and TiVo lobbied Senate offices last week in support of Markey and against the repeal of the integration ban (see 1410240030). Those offices did not include Blumenthal’s. These meetings “were led by TiVo,” Griffen said. Consumers Union and Free Press have also objected to the provision but were not present.

“We must have had 15 meetings in about two days,” Hauppauge President Kenneth Plotkin told us. “Most of the people I spoke with did not really understand what CableCARD is.”

Repeal of the integration ban “should be discussed and debated on its own,” Griffen said, criticizing the lack of any stand-alone hearing on the issue. Multiple congressional hearings have addressed the repeal of the integration ban, with officials from NCTA and TiVo present, but those were in the broader context of STELA reauthorization. Public Knowledge is cautious of Congress advancing the measure in STELA reauthorization or wrapping STELA reauthorization into a must-pass fiscal bill such as the continuing resolution later this year. Griffen insisted clean STELA reauthorization is a viable alternative.

Plotkin helped give demonstrations to Capitol Hill staffers, which helped them understand, he said. The meetings included Griffen and Kim Bayliss, TiVo’s lobbyist from the firm Grayling. “Companies like Hauppauge and TiVo need to make sure there is a standard,” Plotkin said. “It seemed intuitive that consumers should have a choice.” Plotkin acknowledged that repealing the integration ban would save what he estimated would be about 50 cents a year in electricity costs as well as “maybe a couple of dollars” in set-top box costs, but argued consumers would give up choice.

“There are other senators who have concerns,” lawmakers “equally concerned” about the integration ban language but staying quiet, Griffen said. He noted intense pressure from NCTA on the Hill. “We were told ‘NCTA was just in here yesterday,’” he said of one Hill meeting. One Senate office, representing a state without a large satellite presence, said constituents had written in with concerns about the integration ban repeal, Griffen said.

“It’s controversial,” Plotkin added. “It’s political. But if you’re in support of technology, you must be in support of a standard.” Griffen lamented what he judged the “somewhat unsettling” politics of it all: “It’s one of those things that turn people off, the way the sausage is made.”